Let’s Get Started

I’m going to move forward by going backwards first. I was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and lived most of my life there and in a small suburb called Stoney Creek. I lost 3 people very close to me while still in my 20’s and you will come to see that this shaped the way I look at life. I was married, separated and raised 3 daughters and helped raise 2 step-daughters. In my mid-forties, I made a drastic decision to move all the way to California for financial security for me and my kids. (And let’s not kid myself…..to get away from shoveling snow too). Moving 3 teenagers to a totally different country? What was I thinking? Well, it all turned out, and here I am with just a few years left before retiring. I’m planning for that final stage of my life but trying not to sacrifice living well now. In my blog posts I will talk about my travel plans, getting my real estate license (I am and have been for 40 years an operating room nurse) and other ideas for extra income in retirement. I’ll talk about my journey to German language fluency (and why). I’ll share my visions for the volunteer work I will finally have time for and my journey with veganism. Hopefully you will enjoy the posts and perhaps learn a little from what worked for me, but also from what didn’t. Perhaps this blog will give you some ideas for your own journey with living well in pre-retirement and preparing for the next stage of your life. Since this blog will touch on many different aspects of pre-retirement, feel free to enjoy the posts that speak to you and skip the ones that don’t. But please keep coming back!

Finally, I would like to share a quote from the show “After Life” with Ricky Gervais. “A society grows great when old men plant trees, the shade of which they know they will never sit in. Good people do things for other people, that’s it, the end”.

Affording the Dream